Trading Joy for Suffering
by emeralddusk
Summary: Sonny's parents die in a car crash, and she is adopted by a rich, but cold couple. Soon, Sonny's anorexia grows severe, and threatens her life.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is based on a dream I had one night. The kind of dream that leaves you looking back to it for the rest of the night. In this reality, Sonny never joined the cast of So Random!**

Sonny With A Chance

Trading Joy for Suffering

A car crash ends in a second, but its impact can last a lifetime. On the night of November 29th, Sonny Monroe's mother and father were hit by a car they never saw coming. No one left the scene of the crash.

At the age of seventeen, Sonny was put up for adoption. After a week, she was taken in by the Donahues, a very wealthy husband and wife in their late forties. David Donahue was a black-haired man who normally wore a suit and tie. Linda Donahue had reddish-brown hair, and usually had dark red dress shirts and black dress pants on. The two were cold, impatient, and just the opposite of what Sonny needed.

One of the greatest outrages the two caused was the time David tried to get Sonny to change her name to Jane, in order to show she was living a new life. "No," Sonny replied, her voice laced with anger.

"Now listen, you ungrateful little brat," Linda began to say.

"No!" Sonny screamed. "You can't do this to me! You're not my parents!" The black-haired girl knocked a vace onto the floor, shattering it, then ran up to her room, stomping hard on the marble stairs as she did.

The two could hear her door slam violently. Inside the room Sonny called her own, but never accepted as such, she sat on her bed and cried. The night's sky outside was black, which painted her mood even darker. Sonny tightly grabbed her forehead, and gritted her teeth as she breathed heavily, and cried tears of pain, of sorrow. _This isn't my life_, she thought to herself. _Nothing feels right._

The bitter feeling of change stained her mind, sending her deeper into misery. When her parents died, a part of her died.

The moon was bright and full come midnight. Sonny finally cried herself to sleep, and was laying atop her blankets in the middle of her bed, something she never did before. In her mind, she saw her parents. They were walking with her, who was now a child of five. The three were smiling, and the sun was bright, and covered everything in sight with a warm, golden glow.

Suddenly, her parents let go of her hands, and walked away. The sky darkened to a silver-hued black.

"Come back," Sonny pegged, her heart breaking. "Mommy, Daddy, please!"

However, the two continued to depart, not turning their heads or showing any sign of remorse. Sonny put her hand out, trying desperately to reach her mother and father. A tear slid from her blurred eye, and down her cheek as she pulled her hand back, realizing it was all a waste.

The sound of tires skidding, horns honking, and then... a crashing sound. The Monroes were never coming back.

Suddenly, Sonny woke up, her eyes moist and swollen. The girl sat up, feeling groggy. This the aftermath of the deepest pit of emotional pain the teenager had ever fallen into. Sonny looked at her digital clock, one of the few sources of light in the shadow she slept in. The red glowing lines formed 2:05 a.m.

_Had I slept? I only closed my eyes for a second. I'm confused. Where am I?_ It was that feeling; the feeling of being dazed and delusional, like waking up from a fever-enduced dream.

The girl sniffled, and laid back down on her bed, trying to fall back asleep. Soon, the tears began to pour from her eyes again, and her crying resumed.

The next morning, Sonny woke up at 7:00, feeling awful. "Time for school," she whispered, her voice hoarse from her exhaustion. The girl flipped her feet off the bed, and over the carpet. After sitting still for a minute, Sonny stood up, and walked into the bathroom.

After washing her reddened face, which still showed signs of her pain, Sonny went back to her room, got dressed, and went downstairs.

David and Linda were sitting at a white table, which was loaded with pancakes, sausage, bacon, syrup, orange juice, assorted fruits, and glasses of milk.

"Sit down, dear," invited Mr. Donahue, showing little emotion.

"I certainly hope you're feeling better this morning," said Mrs. Donahue in a tone that seemed more like a lecture than sympathy.

"Uh, I'm not very hungry," replied Sonny, timidly. "I'm just gonna walk to school. Bye." The teen walked out the door, her book bag slung over his shoulder.

Sonny hadn't been eating much since the accident. Besides, she was a little on the heavy side, she thought. Unfortunately, the teenager was far from overweight. In fact, she was about two pounds underweight, and dropping.


	2. Chapter 2

Sonny With A Chance

Trading Joy for Suffering

Chapter 2

The snow fell to the ground. Sonny had been going to a new school ever since she got adopted. The girl was distanced, but her true nature of kindness, lovingness, and all-around friendliness showed, and allowed several students to get close to her. However, Sonny had been more isolated in the past few days than ever before.

"I'm getting worried about her," Amy said to Emily. "She's been skipping lunch for a week."

"I know," replied Emily, showing concern. "But what do we do?"

"There she is," Amy whispered, quickly.

Sonny walked past the two, holding her books over her chest, her face serious.

"Sonny," Amy said, walking over to Sonny.

The black-haired girl stopped, and faced her friends.

"Are you okay?" asked Emily. "You've been really quiet the last couple of days."

"I'm fine," replied Sonny, almost defensively. The teen began to walk away.

"Uh, okay," said Amy, quickly catching up with Sonny. "So,... do you wanna walk home with us today?"

"I can't, I'm busy," Sonny lied, her voice cold.

The two teens stopped, and watched their suffering friend walk away from them.

That night, Sonny sat at the desk in her room, her only source of light was a dim reading lamp. The teen looked at her digital clock, which informed her it was eleven o' clock p.m. Sonny's eyes were heavy and blood-shot with dark bags under them, and her stomach was burning. _I don't want this_, she thought to herself. _I want my parents._ The teenager layed her head on the table, cried for about ten minutes, then, finally, fell asleep.

The snow continued to fall to the ground outside, and soon covered what little amount wasn't already white. The night lasted for what Sonny, who was in the dark area between consciousness and a dream, felt was an eternity. At last, the sun rose, and its rays awoke Sonny. The teen usually had a curtain over her window at night, but this was just one more change to suffer with for the time.

The clock read "5:45 a.m." Sonny stood up, wiped her sore, puffy eyes, and walked into the bathroom.

Daniel sat on the red fabric couch, watching the news. "There has been a recent spike in anorexia in the United States," said a blond, female reporter. "Numbers have practically doubled in the past month, and the main concern seems to be teenage girls. Medical specialists have proposed surveys to find the reason for this issue, but at this moment, very little is known."

That day at school, Sonny fumbled with her books, trying to organize them. The teen's body desired to collapse to the floor, but she couldn't. In the mirror on the inside of her locker door, Sonny saw her retched reflection: her eyes were red and baggy, her hair was a rough and unkempt, and her face was beginning to wrinkle from stress. Her stomach was begging for food, water, any kind of nourishment, more than just getting by.

"Sonny," said Amy. "Sonny."

When Sonny didn't answer, Amy grabbed her shoulder, and shook her.

"What?" Sonny replied, shortly.

"What's the matter with you?" Emily demanded, still trying to be sympathetic.

"Nothing is wrong with me!" Sonny screamed, feeling a painful lump form in her throat. "Just get off my back!" The teenager slammed her locker door, and stomped to her next class.

Emily leaned against the locker, covered her face, and silently cried for her friend, whom she felt she was losing.

After the final class period of the day, Amy and Emily managed to talk Sonny into walking home with them. Sonny agreed, mostly because she needed help carrying her books home, and because a part of her secretly longed for her old life. The three left the school at about 3:45 p.m. The snow was blowing heavily, and was already covered most of the ground.

"Wow, this is bad," Amy commented, talking loudly just to hear over the wind.

"Yeah," replied Emily.

"Where are we?" asked Sonny.

"We're about five minutes from your place," Emily called back. "Just keep looking around."

A few seconds went by, then Emily called to Sonny, "You still doin' okay?" There was no reply.

"Sonny?" called Amy, growing concerned.

The two girls turned around, and saw Sonny face down in the snow, motionless.

"Sonny!" Emily and Amy yelled, running towards their friend.

"Sonny, Sonny, get up," pleaded Emily, roughly shaking the black-haired girl. "We've gotta get her inside."

The two teens put Sonny's limp arms around their shoulders, lifted her up, and carried her to her home. Once there, they threw open the door, and called for the Donahues.

"What's wrong?" asked Linda, walking into the living room. "Oh, goodness, what happened?"

"We were walking her home, and she fainted," replied Amy, still upset. "Call a doctor."

The two girls gently laid Sonny on the couch, and pulled a blanket over her cold, pale body. Linda then dialed 9-11. The three silently prayed for the poor teenager.


	3. Chapter 3

Sonny With A Chance

Trading Joy for Suffering

Chapter 3

Emily kneeled on the floor, leaning over Sonny. The sight of her body was horrifying: her clothes were very baggy, even though they were supposed to be her size, her skin was as pale as the snow outside, her face was wrinkled from stress and worries, and her lips were extremely dry and cracked, probably from a major lack of water. How could she let this happen to herself? Emily placed a wash cloth soaked in warm water on Sonny's cold forehead.

"Is she doing any better?" asked Amy.

"No," replied Emily. "How long until the doctor gets here?"

"She should be here any minute," answered Amy. The girl gently stroked Sonny's hair. "You'll be okay, Sonny. I know it."

An ambulance arrived about five minutes later. A moderately tall female doctor with brown hair ran out of the vehicle, and knocked on the door. Linda ran to the door, and opened it for the doctor.

"She's on the couch," Linda informed the woman. "She doesn't look well at all, and she's not conscious."

The doctor, who had "Susan Miles" on her name tag walked over to Sonny, and studied her for a minute. "This is serious," she declared. "Her weight is dangerously low. It looks as though she's been starving herself for quite some time."

"She hasn't seemed like herself lately," Amy replied. "We never payed attention to how she ate, though."

"Have you noticed anything?" Dr. Miles asked Linda, recognizing her as the woman of the house.

"No, no I haven't," replied Linda, who never once thought about Sonny's health or stability.

"She's going to have to be put into intensive care," said Dr. Miles. "She has some other medical problems, but right now this is our main concern."

Sonny was then taken to a local hospital, hooked up to a feeding tube, and had a blood sample taken. Amy, Emily, and Linda sat in a waiting room, their minds plagued with regrets and concerns for Sonny.

_I should have known what was wrong with her,_ Emily thought to herself.

_What kind of friend am I?_ Amy asked herself. _Sonny could have died right in front of me and I wouldn't have noticed._

Linda was mostly concerned with the legal issues her and Daniel would be faced with, but also had a feeling a guilt for failing the one she was responsible for.

Inside the room Sonny was in, her heart monitor beeped regularly, and the doctors and nurses were performing the tasks needed to get her back into stable condition.

Sonny's mind wandered, unaffected by the outside world: she saw herself the night her parents died, shocked, terrified, and drenched with loneliness. Then, she saw her reflection in the mirror; her fat, embarissing reflection. _How did things get to this?_ she asked herself. _Why don't I see myself as beautiful anymore? Why did my parents leave me? When did all this start?_ The girl struggled, but finally managed to focuss her thoughts: she first started to notice her alleged weight gain two days after she was adopted... When she stopped being with people who loved her... When she stopped loving herself... When she knew Mom and Dad weren't there to comfort her anymore.

After five hours, Sonny's eyes opened, slowly. She was in a white hospital room, under a warm blanket in a bed that wasn't hers.

"She's waking up," said Emily, excitedly.

Sonny struggled to sit up, only to be gently pushed back onto the bed by Amy. "Relax, Sonny," she said, her voice comforting.

"How do you feel?" asked Emily.

"Like garbage," replied Sonny, a hint of humor in her voice.

"We're just glad you're okay," replied Emily. "You had us scared to death for a long time."

"I'm sorry," said Sonny, closing her heavy eye lids, and breathing heavy, tired breaths. "I'm so sorry. Thank you for... not giving up on me."

"Friends don't quit on friends," replied Amy, gently stroking Sonny's hair. "No matter what."

Sonny smiled, and drifted off into slumber, the first peaceful sleep she'd had in a long time.

After this incident, Sonny's stepparents checked her into a rehabilitation center, where she managed to get the psychological help she needed to overcome her anorexia, and the loss of her parents. Some days were good, some days, she wanted nothing more than to bury her face in a pillow, and hide from the world around her: feeling like she couldn't go on, feeling like she was decieving herself. Finally, after two years, she was back to normal, and again ready to face the world around her.

The sky was painted red and yellow above the whit ground. Sonny, Emily, and Amy sat on a bench, watching the site.

"It's good to be back," Sonny said, her voice sweet and happy.

The sun set over the city, and Sonny fell asleep in the room she could now call her own. The teenager's parents smiled, and walked their young daughter to her first day of school, knowing she was ready for what would come.

**Months after I completed this, on this very day, I learned that Demi Lovato was admitted to rehab for an eating disorder. I'm praying everything will be okay, and that she'll get over this easily. I love you forever, Demi**


End file.
